When would you book a Caterer?

We booked our caterer 8 months before. People need to eat.

My venue is all inclusive, and I have 4 different catering packages to choose from (each is a different caterer) and I have to tell my venue three months before the wedding, which package we're going to do. I'm not sure how it works with a cater that is not included in an all inclusive deal. I would guess 4 to 6 months maybe? Thats my best guess.

I booked mine about 8-9 months out. I *thought* I had a little more time because I'm getting married on a Sunday not in a peak month. But the first caterer I emailed (one of the top 2 on my list) was already booked! So that got my butt in gear to get the next one.

A caterer can only do "so many weddings/events" on a given weekend or day. Same for your florist and cake baker, too. and frankly, I wouldn't want a cake baker or florist who has 10 weddings to prepare for in one day and has to rush through my stuff (my caterer is a pretty big restaurant based firm).

We booked ours about 8 months out and I felt a little behind. I would've liked to have found someone maybe 10 months out. They book up fast!

I booked mine nearly a year ahead. But I knew that would be the biggest part of the budget so I wanted to get a good figure on that before I started to plan anything else.

I booked mine this past May...so a year out.

Most people book us close to a year out. We always have a few that book 2 years out and others giving less than 2 months. If you are booking in a busy season for your area, I would aim closer to a year so you can get the caterer that you want.

We booked ours about 10 months in advance.

We booked ours in April so a year and a month out!

ASAP. We had ours booked 17 months out (it's also our venue so that was the biggest and most important decision to start with).

Depending on how big/how popular/how in demand for other kinds of events, 12-18 months.

We have already booked ours over a year out.